Two of Us
by Deadheiress
Summary: Jude and Max are half way across the world from each other, but they never stopped thinking about one another. Jude/Max Slash Fic! Warning: There are a lot of naughty words, and mentions of sex, drugs, and all the good stuff. Enjoy!
1. Hey Jude

**A/N: Here's some Jude and Max love for you all! Reviews are always appreciated. I hope this turns out okay, I didn't really have a plan, I just wanted to write a Max/Jude fic so here we go! **

**And as always, I do not own any of these characters, just the actions they are about to perform. ******

~*~*~

It was cold, wet, and foggy out. The skies were a depressing shade of gray, and there was not another person in sight. Despite the drab atmosphere, Jude was upset for more important reasons. Things like the weather, his shitty job, or the fact that he didn't have a date for the upcoming weekend, seemed laughable now. He sat on the lonely beach in Liverpool, thinking about how the last year and a half changed his life so enormously.

_I couldn't stand this place anymore, it was suffocating me. I was 21 years old, and I had spent what were supposed to be the best years of my life, working in the ship yards for shit pay. I had a girlfriend that I had honestly no idea why I put up with; she was needy, clingy, and only okay in bed. And I had a few pretty good friends from the yards, but nothing worth me sticking around for. I felt slightly bad for leaving me mom, but she had her friends and her sisters, so I wasn't too worried. All I knew was I had to get out._

_I decided to go to America, for a couple of reasons. First, it seemed to be where it was at, where you could be free and do whatever you wanted; it was the center of the free world! I heard such stories about America; I knew I just had to see some of it for myself. And second, I wanted to find my father. I don't know the reason really, I mean I didn't expect to start up some bloody long lost father and son relationship, I guess I just needed to know where part of me came from. _

_I took a job shovelling coal into a furnace on a ship heading to America. I couldn't be bothered to take the time and get me visa, I guess I thought it wouldn't be worth it in the long run, and that I wouldn't be in America for that long. That decision would sure come back and bit me in the ass._

_I jumped ship when I got shore in America, and made my way to Princeton. I looked up my father through some old army records, and got this Princeton address, I couldn't believe he worked in a place like that, I thought he must have been some sort of genius! Of course he turned out to be the janitor. But before I met my father, I met him. My best friend, my soul mate, my lover, and the reason for my heart ache. Of course I didn't realise all that in our first meeting though. I just helped him pick up his books, and he just pointed me in the direction of my father. Then I met my father, and it was a very anti-climatic point in my life. I mean I spent half me life trying to meet that man, and I got a hand shake and a "good luck kid". At least he gave me a place to stay._

_That night I met him for the second time. He was running away from a couple of angry blokes, and I gave him a place to hide. We introduced ourselves to each other, and that night I found that something that was missing in my life, and that something was named Max. We instantly connected and became great friends. And the more time we spent together the more absolutely infatuated I became with him. I never even considered that I was queer before. I mean I was never really into Molly, or any bird for that matter, but I never found myself lusting after a bloke before. But the more time we spent together I knew there was no way I could feel this way about Max, and not at least be a little queer. I didn't matter to me though, I was too happy to be bothered by it. And thankfully it turned out he felt the same. One night we went out drinking with his dorm buddies, and then made our way back to his dorm room. It started as just some drunken banter, and then turned into some drunken wrestling, and then it turned into a full out snogging session. We became nearly inseparable after that._

_Max left Princeton and went home to his family for Thanksgiving; taking me with him of course. They all seemed perfectly lovely, that is until WWIII broke out at the table. After that Max, his sister, and I went out for the evening. His sister's name was Lucy and she was a very beautiful girl, almost as beautiful as her brother himself. We all got along really well. Max and I tried to keep our relationship hidden, but I guess we didn't do a very good job because when we later came out and told her in New York she said she had kind of figured it out back at Thanksgiving._

_Max and I moved up to New York the night after Thanksgiving, where we met the people who became our family. Sadie was our landlady and an incredible singer. It was just the three of us for a while, then she hired a guitarist named Jojo for her band, and he came to live with us as well. Later came Prudence, a super sweet girl, who turned out to have more in common with me and Max then she thought. And eventually came Max's sister Lucy, and with her arrival our little family was complete._

_Unfortunately Lucy brought with her a letter, a letter that would change almost all our lives. Max was drafted into the Army. He tried a number of things to get out, but I guess if both your legs worked and you could hold a gun, you were Army material. I only got a couple more months with him, and then he was gone. I tried to concentrate on my art to keep me distracted from the war, but it was next to impossible, especially with Lucy and her trying to constantly shove her protest crap down my throat. I mean I knew she loved, and missed her brother. And I knew she was just trying to do her part in stopping the war and bringing him home, I guess I just didn't see the point. I would have done anything to bring Max home safe, I was just forced to face reality, and knew no matter how much I wanted it, or how much I tried, nothing would bring my love back safe._

_I started drinking and getting high way too often, but no amount of liquor or dope took the pain away. I got in this depression where I didn't speak to anyone, and I didn't even leave my room unless I absolutely had to. One day, somehow, Lucy convinced me to come out with her to the laundry mat. And the minute she started in on me with her protest nonsense, I just lost it. We ended up getting in a huge yelling match right then and there. I told her all that crap her and that prick Paco were doing was completely pointless, and she shot back that I didn't really care about Max if I wasn't out there doing everything I could to bring him back. That really hurt, and I was left speechless. And of course I couldn't leave well enough alone, and I went to the stupid protest they were having that night, to give Lucy a piece of my mind, and ended up getting the shit kicked out of me and the arrested instead._

_And of courses with no visa, and no way of proving that my father is an American citizen I was deported back to Liverpool. And that brings me to now, sitting on the beach, alone, after a full day's work at the ship yards, wondering how my life could have went from so perfect, to complete hell. And the worst part is I have no idea how Max is, I have no idea if he is even alive, it's killing me not knowing._

Jude lit another cigarette and just continued to stare out at the ocean. His thoughts about Max always brought tears to his eyes, and that's why he chose to sit out here on the cold miserable beach. He didn't want his mother to see him so weak and vulnerable so he tried to get everything out before he went home every day. He sighed, wiped his eyes, and started the long walk home.

It had been nearly a month since he got back to Liverpool, but he couldn't seem to fall back into his old routine no matter how hard he tried. His mother noticed his change in behaviour, and she was scarred for her son. He never went out, he hardly ate, he would barely talk to her; he would just work all day, and sleep all night. She tried to get him to open up to her, but he would just shut her out each time. Jude wanted to open up to his mother he really did, he was just scarred of what she would think. She was the only person Jude had in the world right now, and even though she was a very caring person he didn't want to risk her hating him for being in love with Max. And he figured until he knows what happened to Max, no need ruining her life by telling her she had a gay son, unless it was necessary.

He finally arrived back at his house after a long walk from the beach. His mother was sitting at the table with a very concerned look in her eyes. In front of her on the table was one of his sketch books. _Shit she went through my things._ _Why the hell did she go through my things? I really hope that sketch book doesn't have any nude drawings in it. _

"Honey, sit down. I really want to talk to you." Jude starred at his mother for a moment before he hesitantly sat down across from her. "I found this in your room." She held up the sketch book.

"Why the bloody hell were you going through my room!" He never yelled at his mother. It's not that he cared if she saw his work, he just felt betrayed that she would invaded his privacy like that.

"Please don't be made at me sweetie. I was just so worried; you have been so distant since you got back from America. You never talk to me...." She started crying now. Jude didn't realise he was hurting anyone but himself, by keeping to himself. He didn't even think that he was worrying his mother this way. He actually thought he was protecting her by keeping the truth hidden. "...I just thought maybe I could find something to give me an idea of what's bothering you, so maybe I could help! I'm sorry; I hope you're not angry with me." She was staring down at the table, playing with her handkerchief.

"Please don't cry mum. I didn't mean to yell. I'm the one that should be sorry." He had a feeling that the truth was about to come out, he only hoped his mother would still love him. She looked up and gave him a weak smile, then she opened up his sketch book and started to flip through it. There were a number of sketches of places he liked to go in New York, as well as a number of sketches of the people he loved back in New York.

"I didn't realise you were so talented Jude. When did you start drawing? And why did you never show me these?" She kept flipping through the book.

"I always liked art I suppose. I didn't start taking it seriously until I was in America though. I don't know I guess that place just brought it out in me. And I don't know why I didn't show you. Maybe I was slightly embarrassed, or something."

"You shouldn't be embarrassed love! These are really amazing. Who are these people? Were they your friends back in America?" His mother started flipping back to the pictures of his friends.

"Yeah, they were like my family over there mum. We all lived together. That is Sadie, and Jojo. She's a singer, and he plays guitar; they're in a band, they were just making a name for themselves when I left. And that is Prudence, and that is Lucy and that..." He took a deep breath and hesitated for a moment. "....And that is Max." He looked away from his mother. He didn't want her to see how upset he got, by just saying his name.

"Who is he? There are a lot of pictures of him." She could see that she was finally getting somewhere with her son. And she also didn't miss that look he got when he said his name. This was it; he was just going to have to tell her.

"His names Maxwell Carrigan. He was the first person that was really kind to me over there. He's such a great guy. We became really close, he's me best friend. Well, he's more than that really..." He looked down at the ground; he couldn't bear to look his mom in the eyes. He was crying now. "....I love him, I love him so much...I ...I'm so sorry." He stood up to run away, thinking his mom didn't want to look at her crying, queer son anymore, but he was stopped by her before he could get up stairs. She pulled him into a tight hug, led him over to the couch, and just held her son while he cried. She loved her son more than anything in the world, and just wanted him to be happy. And she didn't care for one second if what made her son happy was another man. But she knew there must be more to the story than this. After a couple more minutes his breathing calmed, and he stopped crying.

"It's okay love, you have nothing to be sorry about. I love you so much. What happened?" Jude lifted his head up, and looked at his mother. He was so relieved that she wasn't upset, although he figured she probably would be cool about it.

"He was drafted, and sent to Vietnam. And I have no idea of knowing if he's okay, or even if he's alive." This brought the tears back to his eyes, and his mother wrapped her arms back around her distraught son.

"It's okay. I'm sure he will be fine. You'll see him again, I'm sure. Don't cry love."She started rocking him back and forth; humming the song she used to sing to him when he was younger.

_Hey Jude, don't make it bad, take a sad song, and make it better...._

~*~*~

**Kay so I started this like two hours ago, having no idea what I was writing about and this is what I got. What do you think? Keep in mind it like 2:00 in the morning and I'm sick! Lol. So if it is really bad I'm blaming it on that, ahaha. And I left it open to become a muli-chapter story if you guys like it so, review and tell me what you think please and thank you. ******


	2. Come Back to Me

**A/N: So this is going to be mainly the same kind of thing as chapter 1 except from Max's point of view. And then the next chapter shall be the reunion! Yay! As always I do not own any characters from ATU. And please review and tell me what you all think!**

~*~*~

Max slowly opened his eyes to see a very blurry version of his sister by his side. As his eyes started to focus he could see her more clearly; her eyes were red and puffy, and her cheeks were tear stained. He sat up and let out a small groan; everything hurt, despite the numbness he felt from the morphine.

"Oh Max your awake!" Lucy choked out before taking her brother into a gentle, yet desperate hug. "I was so worried! I'm so glad your home; I was so scared I was going to lose you..." The last few words were barely audible as she started crying again.

"It's okay Lucy, I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere." As he continued to calm and hug his sister, realisation started to sink in. He was in a hospital. He was out of the war. He was in terrible pain. But all that seemed secondary to his next question. "Where's Jude?"

_I thought going off to university would set me free from everything. Free from my family, free from the tedious small town life, free from myself really. But man was I wrong. It started out okay though. All the booze, sex, and drugs you could imagine. The constant partying I could get use to. The constant studying and demand for commitment and perfection, however, I could not get use to. I somehow managed to stick with it for two years though. A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving in my third year, something snapped. I was 21 years old, and this is not where I wanted my life to be. I wanted to experience that freedom I craved so badly, that freedom I thought I was getting when I came to this place. So I decided, quite simply, when I went home for Thanksgiving I wasn't coming back, I quit!_

_In those last few weeks I barely went to class. One day I was in a particular hurry to get away from one of my classes. I had shown up extremely late, and hung over, and also a little high. My professor was more than a little furious at my tardiness and my state when I showed up, so I just got the hell out of there. I was carrying a shit load of books and in my rush I, of course, stumbled and dropped them all over the court yard. I just swore and started to pick them up, when I noticed that someone was helping me. That someone would turn out to be my whole world. I of course didn't realise that at the time, I just thought he was kind of cute and had a sexy English accent. I pointed him in the direction of the janitor, and perhaps my eyes lingered on his ass as he walked away, before I made my way back to my dorm room. _

_I always knew I liked guys more than girls, even when I was much younger. I'm not one of those queer's that wouldn't be able to touch a girl though, I mean I fucked my share of girls, I just preferred men. I met a few gay people that are ashamed to be the way they are, but fuck, I like what I like and I'm damn well going to enjoy it! _

_Later that night me and the guys started drinking, smoking, altogether having a good time, when someone had the bright idea of hitting golf balls off the roof. That someone could have been me, I'm not too sure. Either way it ended with us running for our lives from several pissed off staff members and security guards. That's when I met him again. I jumped a ledge and there he was staring down at me, finishing a cigarette. He gave me a place to hide while the fuss dyed down. We introduced ourselves, his name was Jude, god he was hot. He told me where he was from and why he was here, and I took it upon myself to make sure he had a good first night in America. The weeks that followed we were barley apart. I was hesitant to make a move though; I wasn't sure what he would think about that. One especially drunken night we made our way back to my dorm room, where some drunken flirting lead to some drunken wrestling, which lead to some drunken making out, which lead to some drunken other things....We never questioned our relationship after that, that was it, we were together._

_About a week after that I went home for Thanksgiving, there was no question that Jude came with me. I was a little nervous introducing Jude to my family, I just knew they would end up embarrassing me, and sure enough they did. My dad started in on me about school and my future, and Uncle Teddy quickly followed. It was like fucking WWIII broke out at the table. After that train wreck Jude, Lucy and I went out for the evening. Lucy and Jude seemed to get along well, which was a relief, because I was closest to Lucy out of everybody in my family, and I really wanted her and Jude to get along. Some might have been jealous of the fact that they hit it off so well, but I knew Lucy, and I knew Jude, and I had Jude wrapped around my finger by then. We tried to hide our relationship from her, but my sister must be very observant because when we came out to her in New York, she said she knew the whole time. Then again she might have just been full of shit._

_We moved up to New York City that night. There was no way I was staying with my family longer then what was absolutely necessary. We met the most amazing people up there, and they instantly became a replacement family to me. There was sexy Sadie, our landlady/kick ass singer. There was Jojo, an unbelievable guitar player, which plays in Sadie's band. There was Prudence, a sweet, funny, closeted lesbian. We became really close, you could tell her anything. The only one missing from our little family was Lucy. She came to live with us after her boyfriend died; she originally only came for the summer, but she must have fallen in love with everyone as much as I had because she ended up not leaving. The only down side with my sister's arrival is that she brought the worst possible news with her; I was drafted._

_I tried every trick in the book to get out of going. They must have been really desperate to take me though. I was in the worst possible shape, and I even told them, and I quote, that I was a 'cross dressing, homosexual, pacifist, with a spot on my lung'. But hey I could walk and hold a gun, which apparently made me army material._

_I was scared shit less of going. I honestly thought that I was going to die out there. That if I went then I would never see any of the people I loved again. I kept this all to myself though, I didn't want to scare Jude or Lucy more than they were already. The time flew by, and it didn't seem like nearly enough time to say goodbye, and just like that, I was gone._

_The next few months passed by in a blur. There were a few minor missions, nothing extremely terrible happened though. Then everything started going to hell. I saw people dying before my eyes. Whether those people were my fellow soldiers, the 'enemy' soldiers, or innocent civilians, it was all death in the end, pointless death. Seeing death was bad enough, but I saw it happen in the most gruesome ways, that I'm sure it will haunt me for the rest of my life. A few more months went by, and there was an explosion, I thought it was all over. I was in terrible, blinding pain. When I first got to Vietnam, all I wanted to do was get home alive. But after seeing what I saw, and doing the things that I did, I just wanted to get out of there, whether or not that meant death didn't matter. I said my final goodbyes to god, Lucy, my family, my friends, my love, My Jude. My sweet, sweet Jude. He was the last thing I was thinking of when it all went dark. _

_The next thing I remember is waking up here in this hospital bed, to a sobbing sister. _

Lucy froze up at her brother's question. She knew he was in pain, and she really didn't want to cause anymore. But she knew she had to tell him, especially when it was partly her fault he wasn't here.

"Lucy, where's Jude?" Max asked again after his sister broke eye contact and hesitated to answer.

"I'm so sorry Max. He was deported, he's back in England." Lucy began to cry again, when she saw how much pain that brought to her brothers face.

"Why? When?" He managed to choke out. He too was on the verge of tears.

"It was about a month ago. It was at a riot. He got arrested, and since he didn't have his visa, they sent him home. I'm sorry Max. It's all my fault. He came to the riot to talk to me. If I would have comforted him like I should have, instead of drowning myself in all anti-war protest stuff, none of this would have happened." She turned away from her brother, sobbing even harder now.

Max didn't know what to think. He knew it wasn't his sister's fault, he didn't blame her. But the one thing, the one person that could have brought relief to the pain he was feeling, was half way around the world. A single tear escaped his eye. _Come back to me Jude, please come back to me. I need you, I love you._

~*~*~

**There we go! I hoped you all enjoyed. Next chapter should be up shortly. Please review and tell me what you think, your opinions are important to me!**


	3. And In The End

**A/N: Kay so this is the reunion! I may leave it open to continue the story, but after the reunion, what really is there? You'll have to review and tell me what you think, whether you want me to continue or not. Any way here it is! Back in JPOV.**

~*~*~

After everything that had happened over the last few months, Jude was more than relieved about how his mother had taken the news. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but his mother was nothing but kind and supportive, like usual. But now that, that was out of the way, there was nothing left to do but wait. Wait to hear what happened to his one true love. And it was the waiting and the not knowing that was killing him.

Life seemed to go on around him, and he didn't really have any choice but to play along. He did his time at the yards and would leave before anyone had the chance to ask if he was doing anything later. He was miserable here, and was not about to pretend everything was okay and go out with the guys. So he continued his daily routine of working, crying, sleeping, eating, and drinking alone. Although having his mother there to lean on did comfort him a bit, it still didn't change anything.

One day when he was leaving work he ran into someone he had no desire to talk to what so ever.

"Hello Jude."

"Hello Molly." He hadn't seen Molly since he got back to Liverpool, but he had heard all about her and Phil getting together. She actually looked pretty good, she was 8 months pregnant, so she had that glow about her.

"Are you glad to be back?"

"Yeah, couldn't be happier." That was of course a lie but he wasn't about to get into it right here with Molly. "You look good. And kids on the way, yeah." This was more awkward then he had anticipated. He really just wanted to walk away, but he didn't want to be rude. "So when did you and Phil hook up?"

"About two weeks after you stopped writing." She seemed a little bitter as she spoke, which he couldn't really blame her for; he shouldn't have led her on and then quit writing altogether. "So what was the name?"

"What name?" He had a feeling where she was going with this.

"The reason you stopped writing." He didn't know how to answer that. On the one hand he wasn't ashamed to be with Max or anything, but on the other hand, why risk getting the shit kicked out of you for no reason. He knew if he told Molly, then she would probably tell Phil, who would most definitely tell everyone else at the docks, and he would probably be beaten half to death on a daily bases. So he thought quickly.

"Her name was Lucy." He lied. "It was pretty good for a while, it all seems a bit unreal now." At this, Phil came walking up to use and put a possessive arm around Molly, giving him a 'back off' glare.

"Is this real enough for you?" Before he could say anything else, they both turned around and walked away.

He sighed and started his long walk home. On his way he stopped at the news stand to buy today's paper. He sat down on a bench nearby and started to read. He was flipping through it when a particular headlined caught his eye. _American Radicals Killed in a Home-Made Bomb Explosion in New York City. _He froze at seeing this, and then continued reading. When he saw the line _..leader of the group of radicals was Paco Henderson, devout anti-war activist. He and 5 other devout activists, who at this time cannot be named, were pronounced dead at the scene._... he just wanted to throw up.

_This can't be happening, Lucy can't be dead. No, she wouldn't have done something so stupid; would she?_ All the anxiety he had been feeling over the last two months doubled in amount after reading that. Now not only was he waiting for a letter letting him know what happened to Max, he was waiting for one letting him know if something terrible happened to Lucy.

~*~*~

Another two weeks went by after reading that newspaper article. Time seemed to be moving extra slowly. But everything was about to change, when he got home from work that day, his mother gave him a letter, the letter he has been waiting for. He sat down at the table and just stared at the envelope for a few minutes. He was terrified to what he might read if he opened it. "Go on love, open it. It's better to know." His mother said with much concern in her voice. She prayed it was good news, she didn't know if her son could take it if it was bad news.

Jude took a deep breath, and opened the letter, it read:

_Dear Jude,_

_Everyone is okay, don't worry. Max is back home! He was hit with some shrapnel, he isn't in the best shape, but he's home, he's alive, and he's going to be okay Jude! He really needs you. He is in terrible pain, and when I told him about you being deported it just made it so much worse. He has barely said a word since he found out. He needs you, and we need you. Please come back to America, come back home. We all miss you, and love you._

_Lucy_

He put the letter down, and started sobbing. His mother was at his side in seconds hugging her son. "Oh love, I'm sorry. What happened?"

"No...m..mom..it's..not that. T..there..okay. He's okay...he's back!" The tears of joy continued to streak down is face. "I'm sorry, I have to...I have to go back. I'm sorry."

~*~*~

Jude wasted no time in filling out the paper work and obtaining his visa so he could legally go to America and not have to risk deportation again. It took another whole week after receiving the letter before he was on his way home, home to America, home to his friends, home to Max. It was of course hard to leave his mother again, but she understood that he had to do this. Before he left he wrote a letter back to Lucy telling her the details of his arrival, so there would be someone to pick him up when he arrived.

The boat trip over seemed ten times longer than it did the first time. The first time he had nothing awaiting him, but this time he had everything important in his life waiting for him, which made this week long boat ride seem like it was taking years.

~*~*~

*Out of POV*

Max sat on the hood of his cab, smoking what must have been his tenth cigarette in the last half hour. He had showed up at the docks nearly three hours early, he had waited months to see his Jude but these last three hours seemed to be the most painful. After he got back from the war all he wanted was to be with Jude, and it nearly killed him when he found out he was deported. Max hated the way he has been treating his friends and sister but he just couldn't help what he was feeling. He felt empty, pointless, and like a monster for having to do the things he did. But once Jude's back he knows that everything will fall into place and start to get better. It just had to.

Another half an hour went by until the boat arrived; he started to get a fluttering feeling in his stomach. This was it. About thirty people walked off the ship until he saw him, his Jude.

Jude stepped off the ship and looked around the dock. It didn't take him long until he saw Max. They both just stood frozen staring at each other. A tear escaped Jude's eye when he saw Max, his Max.

The stare down was finally broken when Max cried out "Jude!" and came running towards the Brit.

"Max!" Jude cried back, as the blonde jumped into his arms. He gave him a desperate hug, holding him as close, and as tightly as he possibly could. Both men were in tears at this point, completely lost in the moment.

After about five minutes they broke the hug and leaned their foreheads together, staring at each other lovingly. "I love you so much Jude." Max was the first one to speak.

"I love you too Max! More than anything in this world. I never want to leave you again." The Brit said softly, still in tears.

"That's good because I never want you to leave me again." They both had huge grins on their faces at this point.

Then all of a sudden Max put his hand on the back of Jude's neck and crashed their lips together in a desperate kiss. They didn't even care about all the stares and dirty looks they were receiving. They were too lost in the kiss, and the love they had for one another. They both broke apart gasping for air. Nobody could possibly ruin this moment. Jude after months of fearing for his lover, and being completely empty, he felt whole again. And Max, after months of facing the traumas of war and feeling completely broken, he felt like himself again. They both needed each other far more than they ever realised, and they will never again have to be apart.

"Let's go home." Max said grabbing Jude's hand and leading him to his cab.

"That's the best idea I've heard in months." Everything was once again as it should be.

~*~*~

**A/N: And they lived happily ever after! So that's it, the end of my first ever fan fiction. What do you all think? Please review and let me know!**


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